Okay smarty pants.Amgaa is a gem, and she knows me pretty well. This works for me.
(The REAL picture is on the right.) Casas Church in Tucson sponsored the Land Cruiser for our Steppe-by-Steppe ministry. We had two vans before this, but one was destroyed in a rollover accident in the countryside last fall. Thankfully the guys were not injuried, though the van was good for nothing except to part it out and sell it for scrap. That helped to pay for repairs to the other van that was also damaged from countryside trauma. Standard vans really just can't handle the deep countryside areas where our teams have to minister. The land cruiser will finally open up some areas that were previously closed off to us—minus camels, horses, and mountain climbing for the really rough spots.I should mention, by the way, that our team returned last week from Altai Gobi where more than 1,500 attended SBS movie events, Bible studies, and training. In fact, there are very few believers in the area. Most of these attendees were from Buddhist or Animist backgrounds, and many received Christ after learning about the Bible and the history of Jesus.
While the ministry continues in Mongolia, so the ministry continues in the U.S. as I'm traveling here until July 2nd speaking to potential partners about Eagle TV. I landed this week in Gig Harbor, Washington, about an hour from Seattle. It's my first time in Washington State, much less this little haven in the mountains. All I can say is: Oh. My. Gosh. Can I live here? This little community is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Paradise. And having been to at least half of America and 12 countries, that's saying a lot. I started falling in love with this little town before I even hit the city limits.
Though I'm here to speak at an event tonight at Rock Church on behalf of AMONG and Eagle TV, I get an extra day here with my daughter, Rochele, who is staying with a local family until September. She's playing nanny (okay, not playing, she's working her skinny little tail off!) for the family that helped her during her RSD crisis last year. I haven't see her in 6 weeks, which in Tom years is at least a life time. But of course, just like Amgaa, she's another little smarty pants. I walked to the door of the house. She gave me a big hug and said, "You smell like airplane."Okay. I don't know what airplane smells like. Jet fuel? Oh...how about the sweat of 300 passengers crammed into a hollow alluminum tube? Maybe both.
Cris Bayar, my host and the pastor of Rock Church here, took us around town yesterday to show us the sites, including a walk by the harbor. We had a great time. And with Chris, getting a tour of Gig Harbor is like getting a local geography lesson. Will there be a quiz at the end? I now know more about Gig Harbor than the Mayor.
BTW, for my friends in Arizona and New Mexico, forgive me, but the best Mexican food I've ever had in my life was today, for lunch, in Gig Harbor. Oh. My. Gosh.
Though I had a great time with Rochele seeing this absolutely georgous town, I could not help but think, every time I turned the corner, "Diane would love this. I need to bring Diane here on vacation. Why can't Diane come with me to places like this? Diane's not here. That's not fair. Where's my wife!?"
I've already pledged to bring my wife here on a vacation as soon as I can afford it. If you want to help us afford it, that would be a really nice thing. ;-)
In about 5 hours I'm off to Rock Church for tonight's speaking engagement. If you're in the neighborhood, come. We have free dessert: chocolate cake, cheesecake, apple pie, key lime pie. You may not want to actually listen to me speak, but the food will make it worth the trip.
UPDATE: Event is over. Things went well and I truly appreciate the hospitality and high interest that was shown by everyone who attended. Thanks also for the invitation to return later this year to speak to even more people about Eagle TV's impact in Mongolia.